John Spytek and Klint Kubiak Presser - 11.10.26

John Spytek (0:01)

All right, just started off here, and just a couple of things to say to get us kicked off. First of all, Klint and I just want to thank the entire Raiders organization, wants to thank Kirk Cousins. He's a consummate professional. I have the utmost respect for him. I think most importantly as a human, he gave everything he had to this organization for the time that he was here. He played great football, he led, not only the quarterback room, but the entire team too. So thank you to Kirk, to Julie, to the entire Cousins family for what they gave this organization. We're very grateful for that.

I also wanted to say that MD sends his most heartfelt thank you as well, and he wants Kirk to know once a Raider, always a Raider. With that, we didn't want to say and confirm that Fernando will be the starting quarterback going forward. It's something that he's worked very hard for since the moment he walked into this building.

He passed every test. I want to stop short of saying he's earned it, but he put us in a position where we had to make a really hard decision today with his growth as a person, as a teammate, as a leader, as a quarterback. And so we wanted to acknowledge that as well. And then the last point to make too is that, and this is for Raider Nation and for this entire building, this in no way signifies that we are punting on the season or looking forward to 2027 And that is not the intention of this. We have a big game this week against the Defending World Champs, and we intend to attack it like we would any week that's expected of us, that's expected from ownership from Raider Nation, from this entire building, and we want to make sure that that's noted and said. So with that, I think Klint has a few things to say, and then we can answer a few questions.

Klint Kubiak (1:44)

I just want to echo our thanks to Kirk. He's ignited our building since April, since he's been here as a leader, as a great teammate helping us install this culture. I have a special relationship with him, working with him for four years now, and we couldn't have picked a better guy to kick us off this season.

He earned the right to be in this conversation and his production, put him in this position, and we're going to miss Kirk. And I just love coming to work every day with him and love the teammate that he is and love the person that he is. He's one of the most unselfish guys that I've ever been around. And one of the greatest teammates that I've ever been able to coach.

His influence will remain on our team throughout this season. And it remains with Fernando. His influence on Fernando in our quarterback room has been tremendous. And to echo what Spy said about Fernando, he's prepared. He's practiced extremely well. And his work habits also allow us to make this trade because we feel that he's ready to go. And we're excited to have him take the ball for the game here on Sunday. So we'll take any questions.

SPEAKER_3 (2:59)

It covered Matthew Stafford when he first came out. And there were just things you continued to see in person from him that made you know he was going to be Matthew Stafford. Same thing with Fernando. How much have you learned about him since you picked him that has made your expectations and excitement even go higher? And I appreciate to hear from both of you.

John Spytek (3:21)

Well, I'm not in the meetings every day with him, but I hear all the reports about how well he does in there. But just to watch him go out and practice and the level of which he operates, the scout team and the unselfishness and his ability to throw the football. And I think we've both seen him improve as a passer as well. So again, he worked really hard and performed at a level in practice that was hard to ignore and impossible to ignore. And he put us in a position to make a really hard decision today.

SPEAKER_3 (3:47)

Well, he wanted to answer too.

Klint Kubiak (3:50)

Yeah, Fernando has everything we've asked him to do in practice. I think he's exceeded those expectations. And we all know that Live Bullet Sunday is far different from practice. However, you know, he showed us that he's ready not only physically, but mentally.

He's up there studying right now like he would in any other game. But he puts a lot of work in. His teammates know how prepared he is. It's not just lip service, but he has shown it on the practice field.